<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
<HTML
><HEAD
><TITLE
>createuser</TITLE
><META
NAME="GENERATOR"
CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.79"><LINK
REV="MADE"
HREF="mailto:pgsql-docs@postgresql.org"><LINK
REL="HOME"
TITLE="PostgreSQL 9.1.2 Documentation"
HREF="index.html"><LINK
REL="UP"
TITLE="PostgreSQL Client Applications"
HREF="reference-client.html"><LINK
REL="PREVIOUS"
TITLE="createlang"
HREF="app-createlang.html"><LINK
REL="NEXT"
TITLE="dropdb"
HREF="app-dropdb.html"><LINK
REL="STYLESHEET"
TYPE="text/css"
HREF="stylesheet.css"><META
HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type"
CONTENT="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"><META
NAME="creation"
CONTENT="2011-12-01T22:07:59"></HEAD
><BODY
CLASS="REFENTRY"
><DIV
CLASS="NAVHEADER"
><TABLE
SUMMARY="Header navigation table"
WIDTH="100%"
BORDER="0"
CELLPADDING="0"
CELLSPACING="0"
><TR
><TH
COLSPAN="5"
ALIGN="center"
VALIGN="bottom"
><A
HREF="index.html"
>PostgreSQL 9.1.2 Documentation</A
></TH
></TR
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="10%"
ALIGN="left"
VALIGN="top"
><A
TITLE="createlang"
HREF="app-createlang.html"
ACCESSKEY="P"
>Prev</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="10%"
ALIGN="left"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="reference-client.html"
ACCESSKEY="U"
>Up</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="60%"
ALIGN="center"
VALIGN="bottom"
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="20%"
ALIGN="right"
VALIGN="top"
><A
TITLE="dropdb"
HREF="app-dropdb.html"
ACCESSKEY="N"
>Next</A
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
><HR
ALIGN="LEFT"
WIDTH="100%"></DIV
><H1
><A
NAME="APP-CREATEUSER"
></A
><SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
></H1
><DIV
CLASS="REFNAMEDIV"
><A
NAME="AEN77233"
></A
><H2
>Name</H2
>createuser&nbsp;--&nbsp;define a new <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> user account</DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSYNOPSISDIV"
><A
NAME="AEN77239"
></A
><H2
>Synopsis</H2
><P
><TT
CLASS="COMMAND"
>createuser</TT
> [<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>connection-option</I
></TT
>...] [<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>option</I
></TT
>...] [<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>username</I
></TT
>]</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN77248"
></A
><H2
>Description</H2
><P
>   <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> creates a
   new <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> user (or more precisely, a role).
   Only superusers and users with <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>CREATEROLE</TT
> privilege can create
   new users, so <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> must be
   invoked by someone who can connect as a superuser or a user with
   <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>CREATEROLE</TT
> privilege.
  </P
><P
>   If you wish to create a new superuser, you must connect as a
   superuser, not merely with <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>CREATEROLE</TT
> privilege.
   Being a superuser implies the ability to bypass all access permission
   checks within the database, so superuserdom should not be granted lightly.
  </P
><P
>   <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> is a wrapper around the
   <ACRONYM
CLASS="ACRONYM"
>SQL</ACRONYM
> command <A
HREF="sql-createrole.html"
>CREATE ROLE</A
>.
   There is no effective difference between creating users via
   this utility and via other methods for accessing the server.
  </P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN77262"
></A
><H2
>Options</H2
><P
>   <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> accepts the following command-line arguments:

    <P
></P
></P><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
><TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>username</I
></TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        Specifies the name of the <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> user
        to be created.
        This name must be different from all existing roles in this
        <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> installation.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-c <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>number</I
></TT
></TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--connection-limit=<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>number</I
></TT
></TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        Set a maximum number of connections for the new user.
        The default is to set no limit.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-d</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--createdb</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        The new user will be allowed to create databases.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-D</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--no-createdb</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        The new user will not be allowed to create databases.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-e</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--echo</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        Echo the commands that <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> generates
        and sends to the server.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-E</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--encrypted</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        Encrypts the user's password stored in the database. If not
        specified, the default password behavior is used.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-i</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--inherit</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        The new role will automatically inherit privileges of roles
        it is a member of.
        This is the default.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-I</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--no-inherit</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        The new role will not automatically inherit privileges of roles
        it is a member of.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-l</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--login</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        The new user will be allowed to log in (that is, the user name
        can be used as the initial session user identifier).
        This is the default.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-L</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--no-login</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        The new user will not be allowed to log in.
        (A role without login privilege is still useful as a means of
        managing database permissions.)
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-N</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--unencrypted</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        Does not encrypt the user's password stored in the database. If
        not specified, the default password behavior is used.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-P</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--pwprompt</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>       If given, <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> will issue a prompt for
       the password of the new user. This is not necessary if you do not plan
       on using password authentication.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-r</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--createrole</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        The new user will be allowed to create new roles (that is,
        this user will have <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>CREATEROLE</TT
> privilege).
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-R</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--no-createrole</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        The new user will not be allowed to create new roles.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-s</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--superuser</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        The new user will be a superuser.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-S</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--no-superuser</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        The new user will not be a superuser.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-V</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--version</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>       Print the <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> version and exit.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-?</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--help</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>       Show help about <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> command line
       arguments, and exit.
       </P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
><P>
  </P
><P
>   You will be prompted for a name and other missing information if it
   is not specified on the command line.
  </P
><P
>   <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> also accepts the following
   command-line arguments for connection parameters:

   <P
></P
></P><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-h <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>host</I
></TT
></TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--host=<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>host</I
></TT
></TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        Specifies the host name of the machine on which the
        server
        is running.  If the value begins with a slash, it is used
        as the directory for the Unix domain socket.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-p <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>port</I
></TT
></TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--port=<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>port</I
></TT
></TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        Specifies the TCP port or local Unix domain socket file
        extension on which the server
        is listening for connections.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-U <TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>username</I
></TT
></TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--username=<TT
CLASS="REPLACEABLE"
><I
>username</I
></TT
></TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        User name to connect as (not the user name to create).
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-w</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--no-password</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        Never issue a password prompt.  If the server requires
        password authentication and a password is not available by
        other means such as a <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>.pgpass</TT
> file, the
        connection attempt will fail.  This option can be useful in
        batch jobs and scripts where no user is present to enter a
        password.
       </P
></DD
><DT
><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-W</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--password</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>        Force <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> to prompt for a
        password (for connecting to the server, not for the
        password of the new user).
       </P
><P
>        This option is never essential, since
        <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> will automatically prompt
        for a password if the server demands password authentication.
        However, <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createuser</SPAN
> will waste a
        connection attempt finding out that the server wants a password.
        In some cases it is worth typing <TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-W</TT
> to avoid the extra
        connection attempt.
       </P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
><P>
  </P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN77451"
></A
><H2
>Environment</H2
><P
></P
><DIV
CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
><DL
><DT
><TT
CLASS="ENVAR"
>PGHOST</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="ENVAR"
>PGPORT</TT
><BR><TT
CLASS="ENVAR"
>PGUSER</TT
></DT
><DD
><P
>      Default connection parameters
     </P
></DD
></DL
></DIV
><P
>   This utility, like most other <SPAN
CLASS="PRODUCTNAME"
>PostgreSQL</SPAN
> utilities,
   also uses the environment variables supported by <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>libpq</SPAN
>
   (see <A
HREF="libpq-envars.html"
>Section 31.13</A
>).
  </P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN77467"
></A
><H2
>Diagnostics</H2
><P
>   In case of difficulty, see <A
HREF="sql-createrole.html"
>CREATE ROLE</A
>
   and <A
HREF="app-psql.html"
><SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>psql</SPAN
></A
> for
   discussions of potential problems and error messages.
   The database server must be running at the
   targeted host.  Also, any default connection settings and environment
   variables used by the <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>libpq</SPAN
> front-end
   library will apply.
  </P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN77473"
></A
><H2
>Examples</H2
><P
>    To create a user <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>joe</TT
> on the default database
    server:
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
><SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>$ </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>createuser joe</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>Shall the new role be a superuser? (y/n) </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>n</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>Shall the new role be allowed to create databases? (y/n) </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>n</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>Shall the new role be allowed to create more new roles? (y/n) </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>n</KBD
></PRE
><P>
   </P
><P
>    To create the same user <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>joe</TT
> using the
    server on host <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>eden</TT
>, port 5000, avoiding the prompts and
    taking a look at the underlying command:
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
><SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>$ </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>createuser -h eden -p 5000 -S -D -R -e joe</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>CREATE ROLE joe NOSUPERUSER NOCREATEDB NOCREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;</SAMP
></PRE
><P>
   </P
><P
>    To create the user <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>joe</TT
> as a superuser,
    and assign a password immediately:
</P><PRE
CLASS="SCREEN"
><SAMP
CLASS="PROMPT"
>$ </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>createuser -P -s -e joe</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>Enter password for new role: </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>xyzzy</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>Enter it again: </SAMP
><KBD
CLASS="USERINPUT"
>xyzzy</KBD
>
<SAMP
CLASS="COMPUTEROUTPUT"
>CREATE ROLE joe PASSWORD 'md5b5f5ba1a423792b526f799ae4eb3d59e' SUPERUSER CREATEDB CREATEROLE INHERIT LOGIN;</SAMP
></PRE
><P>
    In the above example, the new password isn't actually echoed when typed,
    but we show what was typed for clarity.  As you see, the password is
    encrypted before it is sent to the client.  If the option <TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>--unencrypted</TT
>
    is used, the password <SPAN
CLASS="emphasis"
><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>will</I
></SPAN
> appear in the echoed command
    (and possibly also in the server log and elsewhere),
    so you don't want to use <TT
CLASS="OPTION"
>-e</TT
> in that case, if
    anyone else can see your screen.
   </P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="REFSECT1"
><A
NAME="AEN77506"
></A
><H2
>See Also</H2
><A
HREF="app-dropuser.html"
><SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>dropuser</SPAN
></A
>, <A
HREF="sql-createrole.html"
>CREATE ROLE</A
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
><HR
ALIGN="LEFT"
WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
WIDTH="100%"
BORDER="0"
CELLPADDING="0"
CELLSPACING="0"
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="left"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="app-createlang.html"
ACCESSKEY="P"
>Prev</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="34%"
ALIGN="center"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="index.html"
ACCESSKEY="H"
>Home</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="right"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="app-dropdb.html"
ACCESSKEY="N"
>Next</A
></TD
></TR
><TR
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="left"
VALIGN="top"
><SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>createlang</SPAN
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="34%"
ALIGN="center"
VALIGN="top"
><A
HREF="reference-client.html"
ACCESSKEY="U"
>Up</A
></TD
><TD
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="right"
VALIGN="top"
><SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>dropdb</SPAN
></TD
></TR
></TABLE
></DIV
></BODY
></HTML
>